SUN VALLEY, NEVADA – A 60-year-old Reno Gazette-Journal photojournalist was pushed to the ground, handcuffed and suffered minor injuries Monday after sheriff’s deputies alleged he obstructed and resisted them while trying to take photographs of a destructive fire in Sun Valley.

Dunn, the newspaper’s photo director and a 21-year employee there, was taking photos of a fire that broke out near Flora Way and East Fourth Avenue. The fire ultimately destroyed two homes and multiple structures.

Dunn said he was told to leave the area and was directed to another location farther from the scene. He said he was then taken to the ground by two deputies – one who shoved his foot on Dunn’s back and the other who pushed his face in the gravel. Dunn’s cheek has a large scrape on it.

Dunn said the deputies accused him of trying to impersonate a firefighter because he was wearing yellow protective fire gear, a helmet and goggles. However, annual wildfire training for media conducted by fire officials recommends such fire gear.

“I kept thinking this was not really happening,” Dunn said.

Barry Smith, executive director of the Nevada Press Association, called it “absolutely preposterous” that Dunn could have been mistaken for a firefighter, and said Dunn’s gear is called for in the 20-page Sierra Front Media Fire Guide published by an interagency coalition that includes the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Nevada Division of Forestry and others.

“Please keep in mind appropriate attire when you are covering fire operations. … We cannot guarantee that the supply unit will have sizes of fire clothing that will fit you. It is always best to come to a wildfire fully equipped,” according to the guide. It also states, “Remember that the decision to assume risk remains with the journalist.”

“The whole idea of ‘move or you’re going to be arrested’ is way outside that policy,” Smith said.

Sheriff’s office spokesman Deputy Armando Avina said the deputies used their discretion and did not arrest Dunn. Avina said because reports in the case have not been completed, he could not comment on the incident.

Beryl Love, Gazette-Journal executive editor, said there have been several instances during the past year in which reporters and photographers were not given access to scenes where they had a right to be. But Love said Monday’s incident goes above and beyond press access.

“The brutal nature in which Tim, a veteran photographer with more than 20 years experience, was treated by sheriff’s deputies is beyond comprehension,” Love said in a statement. “Their use of excessive force on a fellow professional who also has an important job to do is shocking. His rights were clearly violated.”

Love said the newspaper is preparing a formal administrative complaint and is advising Dunn on possible civil actions related to his injuries.

Smith said he doesn’t remember any such incident in the past 20 years.

“There are occasionally disagreements over where people should be and how much access there is, but I’ve never heard of a deputy actually beating up a photographer,” he told the Associated Press. “I’m outraged.”

Dunn said he was asked by a man wearing a T-shirt, later identified as Capt. John Spencer, who he was with. After Dunn said he responded that he was with the Gazette-Journal, he said Spencer told him to go down the hill where other media had been directed.

Dunn said that after he complained the area was too far away for him to take photos, Spencer escorted him down the hill and said Dunn did not have any identification.

After Dunn said he told Spencer he wasn’t asked to show identification, their conversation became heated. Soon, Dunn said, the two deputies arrived and handcuffed him after taking him to the ground.

“I was proceeding out of the area and was irritated they wouldn’t let me do my job, but I was doing what they told me,” Dunn said. “… I don’t know why they felt they had to take me down. I’m a 60-year-old guy carrying camera equipment.”

Dunn said he always has respected law enforcement and the job they do. He said Monday’s incident disappointed him.

“My rights were violated, and the force they used was not necessary,” he said.

Smith said he spent much of Tuesday researching relevant state statutes, rules and regulations. He said fire officials and law officers “clearly do not have the authority to order the media around at any kind of an emergency site.” He said obvious exceptions include “if somebody is obstructing the firefighters from getting to the scene or doing their job, or there is some imminent danger the reporter or photographer is not aware of — and in that case, they should be advising them.”

“Nevada journalists are trained how to respond to wildfires,” said Smith, who intends to support the newspaper in its action. “It sounds to me like the fire officials and deputies need to be trained on how to respond to the media.”

CLEVELAND, OHIO – Cleveland prosecutors have dropped their case against a man who was ticketed for littering when he dropped a dollar he was attempting to give a disabled person.

Chief City Prosecutor Jonathan Cudnik dropped the case Thursday against John Davis in Judge Angela Stoke’s courtroom, saying the city does not consider money to be trash, WJW, Cleveland, reported Thursday.

Davis said he was relieved by the decision, as the $344 littering ticket was approaching $500 with court costs factored in and he would lose additional money from missing work and attorney’s fees.

Davis said his attorney, Marcus Sidoti, will donate all fees to the Different Needz Foundation charity.

FORT LEE, NEW JERSEY – Forget dangerous driving, pedestrians are the new threat to street safety — phone calls, texting, music and wandering into traffic. Now, one New Jersey town is cracking down on the practice.

Fort Lee’s police chief has seen his share of careless pedestrians texting or talking on the phone in his own town. He said he has counted 23 pedestrian accidents since January, ranging from minor bumps and bruises to three fatalities.

After trying pamphlets and brochures, he’s ordering his officers to ticket careless pedestrians on the spot.

“They’re not alert and they’re not watching what they’re doing,” Police Chief Thomas Ripoli told CBS 2′s Derricke Dennis. “As of now, they are to give summonses to pedestrians who do not adhere to crosswalks and the lights.”

Unlike careless driving, there’s no specific charge for being a careless pedestrian, but Chief Ripoli said his officers are watching, adding they’ll know it when they see it.

Mario Petris can certainly attest to the dangers. One of his personal training clients was hit and killed two months ago.

“She was on the cell phone and she got hit by a car, fatal accident,” Petris said.

The problem has gotten so bad, careless pedestrians in Fort Lee could be committing a fatal offense. Fort Lee is also cracking down on careless drivers, who could face a $200 fine.

MICHIGAN – NaturalNews can now confirm that the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has, in total violation of the Fourth Amendment, conducted two armed raids on pig farmers in that state, one in Kalkaska County at Fife Lake and another in Cheboygan County. Staging raids involving six vehicles and ten armed men, DNA conducted unconstitutional, illegal and arguably criminal armed raids on these two farms with the intent of shooting all the farmers’ pigs under a bizarre new “Invasive Species Order” (ISO) that has suddenly declared traditional livestock to be an invasive species.

The ISO also deems farmers who raise these pigs to be felons, and DNR officials were ready to make arrests on the scene and haul away these farmers to be prosecuted as hardened criminals.

Farmer forced to shoot his own baby piglets in cold blood“I think this is an unconstitutional order, these actions of the DNR are way out of bounds,” attorney Joseph O’Leary told NaturalNews in an interview today. He is representing one of the farmers who was targeted in these raids. “To take what was six months ago an entirely legal activity, and suddenly people are felons over it. They’re not growing drugs, running guns or killing anybody, they’re raising animals pursuant to USDA regulations and state of Michigan regulations. They haven’t done anything wrong here, and the DNR is treating them like they are hardened criminals.”

In anticipation of the DNR arriving on the scene, one farmer engaged in what can only be described as a heart-wrenching task of shooting his own pigs, one by one, including baby piglets before the DNR arrived. This was to avoid being arrested as a felon. His livelihood is now completely destroyed, as the state of Michigan has put him out of business. Even after this farmer informed the DNR that he had destroyed his entire herd of pigs, the DNR continued to illegally acquire a search warrant by providing false information to a court Judge, then conducting an armed raid on his ranch to verify that the entire herd of pigs had indeed already been shot to death. That this took place satisfied the DNR, which is now showing itself to be engaged in the mob-style destruction of targeted farming businesses through its mass-murder agenda of Michigan’s small-scale farm pigs.

“It was very traumatic for him. These guys are farmers, and I know how much he cared for the animals there, and the DNR treats these like they’re some kind of a plant that needs to be exterminated rather than animals that people care about,” said O’Leary.

Here is what one of the raided farmers had to say about his experience of being forced to destroy his pigs:

“I was served a search warrant yesterday at 7: 45am. I have killed all my hogs. [DNR] gave me papers that say I do not have any hogs on my property. All they saw were dead hogs laying around from my mass slaughtering. It took 12 guys 4 times in there to kill all of them, sows with young, Pregnant sows, dozens of piglets, and old mature boars. It has been a sad few weeks. Does anyone know what it feels like to open fire on 20 baby piglets in one group which weigh between 5 lbs and 15 lbs. They are so adorable and cute. They commented to everyone that they never saw a fence built so tough and no way would a hog get out of this area.” (www.BakersGreenAcres.com)

One of the raids targeted Ron McKendrick of Renegade Ranch in Cheboygan County. His ranch was raided on Saturday morning, and DNR agents reportedly conducted an interrogation of his customers and his 75-year-old senior citizen employee. In order to gain access to his property, DNR bureaucrats acquired a temporary restraining order which was used to bully their way onto the property (a violation of the Fourth Amendment).

Another raid was conducted against the farm of Dave Tuxberry. He’s the man who was forced to shoot all his own pigs before DNR agents arrived, in order to avoid being arrested as a felon.

Call for arrest of Michigan’s DNR agents

Based on the actions of the DNR, it is my belief that the DNR is a rogue, criminal gang of government thugs who are murdering livestock, destroying the lives of farmers, violating the constitutional rights of Michigan citizens and engaging in outrageous acts of destruction of private property.

I believe it is the duty of law-abiding Michigan citizens to call for the immediate arrest of DNR officials who must be brought to justice for their crimes against Michigan farmers. Every agent of the DNR that participated in these raids must be brought to justice to answer for their crimes. If the use of force is necessary to make a lawful and legal arrest of these criminal Michigan government agents, then such use of force is fully authorized under the United States Constitution as well as the Constitution of the State of Michigan. It is under these laws, in fact, that police officers are given firearms to use in the protection of the People. In Texas, the state Constitution even says that farmers have the right to use lethal force to prevent someone from committing a felony crime against their property. This includes shooting horse thieves, for example, and being in the right to do so.

No government has any right to terrorize its citizens in the way that has been witnessed here with the DNR of Michigan. These people are utterly out of control, waging a private armed war against selective targets, using taxpayer money to destroy the lives of productive Michigan citizens. These DNS agents are dangerous and clearly psychologically imbalanced. They desperately need to be reminded of the tenants of lawful government and the rights of citizens. They need to be immediately arrested and given the privilege of a trial by jury to answer for their crimes against farmers.

While I do not espouse the use of violence to resolve issues with government, when innocent farmers are faced with being raided by criminal gangs of rogue government operatives who are forcing them to destroy their entire livestock herds, there is little choice but to halt the actions of these criminals through lawful arrest and bring them to justice in the court system where they must face charges of conspiracy, destruction of private property, the violation of the civil rights of private citizens, illegal trespassing and much more. This is the whole point of the Second Amendment, by the way: To give the People some balance of power so that they might protect themselves against the overzealous, tyrannical agendas of out-of-control governments which inevitably try to rule over the People as violent dictators.

A court hearing is scheduled this Friday at 9:00 am at the courthouse in Cheboygan County. I have been told that a very important legal strategy to halt this DNR madness will be unveiled in the courtroom that morning. Ron McKendrick, whose ranch was raided by DNR over the weekend, will be appearing in this hearing.

I am calling upon all patriots, farmers and food rights activists in Michigan to be there on Friday morning and join in this show of support for farming freedom and fundamental human rights. Do we not have the right to raise livestock without the state raiding our property and murdering our animals? And why is this not being covered in the national media?

Also: This battle continues to be waged by Mark Baker at http://www.BakersGreenAcres.com who desperately needs additional legal funds to continue his fight against the out-of-control government tyrants in Michigan who are trying to destroy farms. Please check his website for updates and make a small donation (even $5 or $10 helps) using the “Donate” button on his website.

NaturalNews will continue developing this story and we anticipate bringing you more details after the Friday hearing. In the mean time, I will continue to call for the immediate arrest of DNR officials who are now, by any standard, runaway criminal thugs who are operating under the false cover of government. If anyone has a list of the names of these people, please contact NaturalNews with that list so that we can publish them under a “WANTED FOR CRIMES AGAINST THE PEOPLE” heading as we continue to call for their arrest.